Using an air-conditioner during summer -how careful and energy saving are you

I save on electricity all the other months to spend on summer. God it is terribly hot that your mind never thinks about the bills or any other thing .A heavy price to pay for being here. And I always think that you have to earn more for your increasing necessities rather than living uncomfortably. Air conditioner has become the necessity and not a luxury anymore .Is it not so? How is Trichy temperature? Chennai is just impossible.

Hi Kala! We also use our air conditioner during nights only. It is a fact that cost of running an air conditioner is quite high and it is the highest of similar gadgets like Desert Cooler etc. I know at your place desert coolers won't simply work during summer months. We also refrain from using AC during day time. We know that for getting the comfort of AC, we are required to pay hefty electricity bills. It is, therefore, I say and believe - "Everything comes at a price".

must be nice, but when the temp is over 100º I am NOT going to suffer - that's like 38-40+º C Now, I work outside the home, and when I'm at work, the ac is only on in the rooms where there are people - like the roomie works at home, and the only ac going is the one in her office until I get home, then I turn on the ac in the room I am in. Today, for example, I was also doing the cat boxes and my bedroom is very warm, so I turned on the ac in there as well, and to cool down the room for later. It is supposed to be over 90 on Friday, and I get home like 3:30 to 4, so I've asked the roomie to turn on the ac in my front room (where I mylot) when she goes to check the mail - that'll allow it to cool off before I get home for about a half hour to an hour... I'm NOT going to suffer, but I also don't set it real low unless I'm trying to cool MYSELF off too.

Well, here in the UK it only get really hot for a couple of months of the year, sometimes not even that. We have portable air-conditioners and we may switch them on from time to time on really hot nights just to cool our bedroom a little. In the other rooms though we usually just use standard fans. It's not so bad being warm when you are not trying to sleep! _Derek

We are coming out of summer here in Australia so we are not really using our air conditioner any more because although it is still warm it’s not too hot. During the heat of summer we use it only as we really need it. I find that I actually start to feel cold after the AC has been on for a while! We never put it on at night, we use a normal fan if we it is really hot but I find I am usually okay. Good on you for being aware of your power consumption.

I use timer and temperature controller for the AC.I put the conditioner in the power saver mode.It reduces the electricity usage and helps in using the AC in the best way.I generally use my conditioner in the nights when I go to sleep. My office has central air conditioning facility so I can't help to reduce the usage of it.

I grew up in a very hot country and everyone I knew had air conditioners. Most of the homes I knew the air conditioners were on all day during the summers. When I was a teenager, we lived in an apartment which had central heating...so we didn't need to get an air conditioner for every room. Most of the day, the air conditioner was kept at a regulated closer to normal temperature. When we went to school and work, my mother never used the air conditioner. She would switch on the air conditioner half an hour before the first one was to arrive home ...so that we could enter the cool environment from the heat outside. At night, the air conditioner was set to a cooler temperature at first and then reduced just before we went to bed. Now, even though it gets really hot in summer and my husband cannot stand the heat (though I can because I'm used to worse summers), we don't have an air conditioner. My husband has been saying we need to get one for the past few years but he hasn't got one yet. But when we visit Kerala, he cannot stand the heat and since there is no air conditioner at my in-laws place, we always spend the night at my parents' place. He doesn't mind the dusty rooms (no one lives there and everyone uses it only during vacations)...but he needs the air conditioner. We switch it on before going to bed and then I switch it off just before dawn. It is cool in the room for another hour or so.

With major seasons being eaten up by summer months, we have kind of reshuffled our AC usage. Summer is unbearable and we have use the AC. This season, however, the government has urged the citizens NOT TO switch it on during prime time. Its an endeavor to cope with the power deficit and has relation with the green house effect whatsoever. so, we are doing our bit by compulsion. Having said that, I do switch it on during day time. I have it regulated to economy mode and switch the main power off when I am not using it. my parents, however, hardly uses theirs. They are very moderate in their usage.

I will not set a very cold temperature in summer although it seems it is much more comfortable. It will uses up much electricity. And it won't be good for your health because there is a big difference of the indoor and outdoor temperature. I love China

kalav56, I am using a 4 split unit air conditioner for my home, so that all my bedrooms could be air conditioned when needed. Although, they can easily blend with our home's interior decors, energy saving and a great to have air conditioner. On top of self maintenance, like cleaning the wall unit and air filters, I engage professionals to clean the internals of the wall unit, drainage pipes and the external compressor unit to upkeep its' efficient and optimum performance. If the system or unit are clogged then energy consumption will be considerable as the machines will have to overwork due to dirt and clogging. So, remember to keep your air con units clean at all times, believe me it will let you save on your electric bills. Take care.

we do not have an air conditioner and we are already used to with a simple electric fan. i can't say it is fine with us, especially the kids, when it is too hot. even right at this moment, when it's summer and the weatherman still claims that there is the el niño phenomenon.

Hello I am using Samsung 2 ton ac since last 6 years, it runs 18 hours a day in summer and in noon during winter, yes it is costly, but if we can afford the bill, why not live in comfort.. Initially we set the temp at 18, the room cools down, i raise it to 24, this is comfortable for me.. Thank you so much for this nice discussion, cheers God bless you. Prof

Here where I live it's also very hot in summer and sometimes we suffer by calima (hot wind coming from Sahara with plenty of sand in the air). But I don't have any airconditioner at home. As you mentioned, it's a very expensive luxury. So I try not to go out at noon time, when son is shining very hot. During the day, I close windows and doors to avoid that the hot air comes into my home, but I open windows and balcony during night to refresh my home. And later in the afternoon (about 7pm) my family and I go to the beach to get refreshed from the hot day, so after the beach and having a short shower at night when we are back from the beach it's easier to sleep, because we are also more relaxed.

uh...uh...(shyly)^^I'm not that much of an energy saver. I tend to overuse the ac in my room, whenever home. My skin itches whenever it gets too warm, and whew! this summer is just too hot,hot,HOT! A couple of days ago, I left a candle on the table out back, and it melted. Thank goodness there's a slight drizzle today!

Air conditioning isn't a luxury for me. If I get too hot I get sick. I put the AC on the temperature where It comes on when the room gets too hot and shuts off before the room gets too cold. I think that is 72F? 73F?

I do not have air-conditioner at home. But I feel it is like fridge, keeping cool levels. If I had one, I will use it only when it is very much needed and only to the level that is moderate. It will not be too high as it will suck the energy and not too low as the charm of having air-conditioner is lost.

how touchy? ... I have tried to avoid this luxury, so that I will not add to the greenhouse gases. But, my two kids are not able to sleep at all. What ever methods i use, like hanging wet blankets at the windows, and wet-mopping the floor frequently ... only added to the severe humidity. And, more trouble with the HEAT. so, had to install the air-conditioner. AS you said, I have been trying to set it in low level, and timing the usage. Now, not for the sake of reducing the green house gases but, for reducing my power consumption. I cannot promise now, that I will use this for a minimum time. Let me update after this May.

Here the air conditioner is a necessity because our weather is extremely hot. All the food in the house would spoil without it and the plants would die. But I like more heat than most people do and especially for sleeping, so I use as little air conditioning as possible. It is the cool weather that costs me a lot for fuel, because I really need the heater on when it gets cold. But then I turn the heat down and use more blankets for sleeping and set the thermostat to go up in the morning. In winter the heater coming on is like an alarm clock. Sometimes when the weather is bad here, I go to my vacation home because what I save on fuel for heating and cooling offsets the cost of fuel to drive there and back. That makes it a free vacation.

Earlier air conditioner was a luxury because the climate was tolerable -that is with the help of fans we were able to sleep and do our office work.But now due to global warming air conditioner is a neccessity as the temperature everywhere is extremely high.It is impossible to sleep in the scorching heat ,The breeze of the fan is nowhere soothing.Even travelling without an airconditioner is punishing oneself .So if we can afford it we should not hesitate to use it as the heat itself will keep us unhealthy .Health is more important .So using an air conditioner is the best way to escape the scalding heat of summer .Ofcourse now it is hot,hotter and hottest.

Hi, kalav56. We have Central Air in our apartment that we now live in. I don't know what I would do if we did not have it here. The walls are very insulated here. I only turn the air on when it is gets muggy in here. I use a fan when it is not so hot in here. I can't sleep if it is too hot either. We used to have an air conditioner that had an timer setting on it. It also had an energy saver button too. I used this often. And it made our bills very low every month. Our electrical bill was around, $90.00 to $118.00 a month. This included the use of other electrical units that we was using too.